Director Guillermo del Toro’s “monsters vs. robots movie” Pacific Rim is surely one of the most anticipated titles set to hit theaters in 2013, and fans were treated to a tease of what’s to come at this summer’s Comic-Con. The gist of the presentation was the word “massive,” as everything we saw told us that this is a story that’s truly being displayed on an epic scale. For those unaware, the story finds humans towards the end of a losing battle against giant monsters called Kaiju. In order to combat the creatures, humans have developed their own giant human-controlled robots called Jaegers.

Steve recently spoke with del Toro during a phone interview in anticipation of DreamWorks Animation’s upcoming film Rise of the Guardians, on which del Toro served as an executive producer (read Steve’s thoughts on the film here). During the interview, del Toro also discussed when we’ll see the first trailer for Pacific Rim, his ideas for Pacific Rim 2, how does 3D looks, whether he would make the sequel immediately after Pacific Rim, and more. Hit the jump to see what he had to say.

Del Toro revealed that the first trailer for Pacific Rim will be going public in mid-December, which seems to suggest that it will be attached to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey given that both films are from Warner Bros. Steve asked del Toro just how involved he is in the process of cutting the trailer, and the director revealed that everything goes through him:

“They bring it to me and then I do a little pass myself, I help with the sound design, then we re-cut it again, and then I’m involved in the timing of the color and the mixing of the sound, so whatever you saw in San Diego or New York, I was completely part of the process.”

Given that Pacific Rim is a film about giant monsters and robots fighting each other, a heavy amount of visual effects is necessary. Del Toro cares deeply about presentation, though, so he revealed that many of the shots in the trailers will be finished effects shots:

“We have a couple of finished shots, but most of the stuff is being finished for the trailer. If it goes public, it has to be [stuff that I’m happy to show]. I’m very, very happy to show off what we’ll show in December.”

Much made out of the fact that Warner Bros. is post-converting Pacific Rim to 3D even though del Toro previously stated that he didn’t think the format was a good fit for the film. The director subsequently released a candid statement that assured fans that he would be intricately involved in the process, and he told Steve that the conversion is coming along nicely:

“We’re getting footage in 3D from two forms: one is all the footage that is CG is being composited directly by ILM. So John Knoll, who is one of the greatest minds in the business, is supervising that there’s no miniaturization in those shots. And they’re looking gorgeous; they’re coming basically fast and furious every week. And the other sources of 3D is Stereo D, and those are looking fantastic too.”

Finally, given that Pacific Rim is a tentpole, it’s not crazy to think that Warner Bros. and/or Legendary’s Thomas Tull would be itching to get to work on a sequel should the first film be a success. Del Toro admitted that he’s been working on some ideas for the follow-up alongside screenwriter Travis Beacham, but he’d like a breather from the big-budget world before he returns for Pacific Rim 2:

“We certainly started tossing ideas for possibilities of a sequel and Travis Beacham and I are writing a proposal of ideas, but at the same time I know I don’t want to do that next. I want to do something else, I want to do something in a different genre that’s not so big. So I don’t know yet what it’s gonna be, but I know that next year I’m delivering Pacific Rim in July and then I’m doing—God willing—the voice shooting for Pinocchio and then the pilot for The Strain for FX.”

Look for much more from Steve’s interview with del Toro soon, including updates on his DreamWorks Animation projects and his foray into television, The Strain.